Machine for aligning stripes of fabrics woven on circular looms



March 4, 1969 F. P. ANDRAULT MACHINE FOR ALIGNING STRIPES OF FABRICS WOVEN ON CIRCULAR LOOMS Flled March 15, 1967 'INVEN TOR FRfiNgols PnuL R DRRULT WW a/w'a 721w! RTTORNEIb United States Patent U.S. Cl. 1122 6 Claims Int. Cl. Db 23/00 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The machine for aligning stripes according to the invention comprises:

A unit for feeding the fabric in a flat position and consequently in double thickness;

A unit for cutting the fabric along a fold line, that is to say along a generator-line;

A shifting unit comprising a shift guide against which the cut marginal portion of only one of the two layers of fabric is intended to pass, the position of said shift guide being preferably adjustable and such that said marginal portion follows a path which is longer than the path followed by the marginal portion of the other layer of fabric by a distance equal to the width of one stripe, whereupon the two layers are again brought one against the other with their stripes in register; and

A sewing machine, preferably of the hosiery seaming and shearing type, which is adapted to join the layers of fabric thus aligned.

The stripes of fabrics knitted on circular knitting machines are obtained by alternating yarns of different colors in the different feeders. In the tubular piece which is delivered from the knitting machine, the stripes are therefore disposed in helices and it is necessary in order to ensure for a logical sequence of cloth preparation to convert the helices to closed annuli. Up to the present time, it has been the practice in order to achieve this result to cut the piece along a generator-line and to re-sew it by first effecting the relative displacement of the two edges of the fabric in order to place the two ends of the stripes end to end. This operation is difiicult, slow and hindered by the twisting of the fabric which arises from its natural texture.

The object of the invention is to provide an automatic machine which performs the same work under considerably better conditions.

The invention also has for its object modes of execution comprising at least one of the following features:

(a) The shifting unit comprises a pair of input rollers and a pair of output rollers, the shift guide being disposed between said two pairs of rollers.

(b) The machine is provided at the delivery end with a unit for storage in rolls of folding in pleats.

(c) All the units of the machine are driven from a single motor such as the sewing machine motor by means of suitable motion-transmission systems.

A better undertanding of the invention will be obtained by consideration of the following description and accompanying drawings which show by way of non-limitative example one form of construction of an automatic machine in accordance with the invention for aligning stripes in fabrics.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view in elevation of the complete machine, and

FIG. 2 is a corresponding plan view.

The machine which is illustrated in the drawings and 3,430,589 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 which is designed to align the stripes of fabrics which are obtained on circular knitting machines comprises in the example shown six main assemblies, namely: a feed unit 1, a cutting unit 2, a shifting unit 3, a sewing unit 4, a delivery unit 5 and a storage unit 6.

The feed unit 1 essentially comprises a horizontal feed roller 11 which is driven in rotation and capable of drawing the fabric 10 which is either in the form of a roll 10A or in the form of a pleated stack as shown at 10B. Said roller 11 will preferably be covered with a substance having a high coefficient of adhesion. In any case, the fabric passes in a flat position over the feed roller 11, that is to say in double thickness, both layers being joined together by the two marginal folds. A fabric guide 12 is placed on the entry side of the roller 11.

The cutting unit 2 is constituted by an apparatus 14 of any suitable and conventional type which is capable of slitting the fabric lengthwise along one of the two pleats, that is to say along one of the generator-lines of the tubular fabric.

The shifting unit 3 is essentially made up of a pair of input rollers 31, 32, a pair of output rollers 33, 34 and a shift guide 35. The two pairs of rollers and the shift guide are disposed in the vicinity of the edge of the fabric 10 which has just been cut by the apparatus 24. The bottom layer of fabric 10' passes directly in a straight line from the input rollers 31, 32 to the output rollers 33, 34 whilst the marginal portion of the top layer 10" follows a path which is longer than that which is followed by the bottom layer 10' and by a distance equal to the width of one stripe so that, when the marginal portions of the two layers meet again between the output rollers 33, 34, the stripes are in register. Preferably, the shift guide 35 is mounted to permit of adjustment for height so that it is possible to adjust at will the relative displacement of the marginal portions of the two layers of fabric as a function of the width of the stripes.

The sewing unit 4 is constituted by a sewing machine 41 of any suitable conventional type, preferably of the seaming-shearing type. The machine is placed on the exit side of the rollers 33, 34 in order to assemble the two edges of the fabric.

The delivery unit 5 is essentially made up of a roller 51 which supports the fabric over its full width and which can be coated with a substance having a high coefiicient of adhesion so that the fabric which passes over the roller is conveyed solely under the action of its own Weight.

The storage unit 6 comprises a roller '61 which receives the aligned fabric. It is possible to employ this roller for delivery purposes, in which case the unit 5 is dispensed with. The storage unit is provided with a suitable system for arranging the fabric in rolls or in pleats as indicated by the reference 62.

In the exemplified embodiment, the different fabricconveying rollers, the cutting unit and the sewing machine are driven from a single motor 43 which is in fact the sewing machine motor. The transmission unit or drive mechanism which serves to couple the motor 43 to the sewing machine 41 is indicated diagrammatically by the reference numeral 44. There have also been shown diagrammatically the other drive systems such as the belt 25 which serves to drive the roller 11 of the feed unit from the step-down pulley 45, the belt 52 which drives the delivery roller 51 from the step-down pulley, and finally the belt 53 which drives the roller 61 of the storage unit from the roller 51.

In the example which is illustrated, all the drive systems referred to are shown diagrammatically as belt drive units, but it is readily apparent that such systems can be of any other type which is suited to the purpose.

The cutting unit 24 is, for example, an independent electric device which is fed directly from the usual mains supply.

During operation, all the rollers being driven at the same linear velocity, the fabric which is conveyed by the feed unit 1 to the cutting unit 2 is cut along a pleat, whereupon its bottom layer 10 passes in a straight line through the shifting unit 3 whilst the marginal portion of its top layer 10 follows a longer path which is specifically adapted to bring the helical stripes of the fabric back into coincident relation.

As they pass out of the shifting unit, the marginal portions of the two layers which are thus brought in register are sewn by the machine 41, whereupon the fabric which is again presented in a tubular form with a seam along one of its pleats is discharged on the roller 51 from which it is conveyed to the storage unit 6.

It is thus possible to realign the stripes of fabrics both automatically and consequently at high speed and in a reliable manner. The shift guide 35 can be adjusted for height depending on the width of the stripes.

It is apparent that the invention is not limited to the mode of execution which has been described in reference to the accompanying drawings and that any modifications can be contemplated without thereby departing either from the scope or the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for aligning the stripes of fabrics knitted on circular knitting machines and comprising:

a unit for feeding the fabric in a fiat position and consequently in double thickness;

a unit for cutting the fabric along a pleat, that is to say along a generator-line;

a shifting unit comprising a shift guide against which the cut marginal portion of only one of the two layers of fabric is intended to pass, the position of said shift guide being such that said marginal portion follows a path which is longer than the path followed by the marginal portion of the other layer of fabric by a distance equal to the width of one stripe, whereupon the two layers are again brought one against the other with their stripes in register;

and a sewing machine, preferably of the hosiery seaming and shearing type, which is adapted to join the layers of fabric thus aligned.

2. A machine in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the shifting unit comprises a pair of input rollers and a pair of output rollers, the shift guide being disposed between said two pairs of rollers.

3. A machine in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said machine is provided at the delivery end with a unit for storage in rolls.

4. A machine in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that said machine is provided at the delivery end with a unit for folding the fabric in pleats.

5. A machine in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that all the units of said machine are driven from a single motor, by means of suitable motion-transmission systems.

6. The machine of claim 5, wherein said sewing machine has its own driving motor and wherein said single motor is the sewing machine motor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 790,492 5/1905 'Firsching 1 12-262 2,415,824 2/1947 Katz et al 112-63 2,529,575 11/ 1950 Sailer ll263 2,940,404 6/1960 Damon 112-203 XR 3,136,277 6/1964 'Forte 112-262 3,253,311 5/1966 Cohn ct a1 83-175 XR J JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

